The urge to take pictures of screens in order to capture their emanations has been around since the birth of television. Whether it’s done in the analogue or digital age – any external or internal screen reproduction means freezing visual signals of events far or near; of events long gone or happening right now.
Ornella Fieres’ location-specific installation “As if we are passing through tunnels” focuses on the visuals and language of early spaceflight. In her work with appropriated footage, the artist frequently comes across analogue photographs of TV screens showing live transmissions of Soviet and US space travel events. Screenshots generated by the artist – and others – blend into moving, slowed or stopped images and voiceovers, shifting our innate sense of time. Just like walking through a tunnel …
Ornella Fieres lives and works in Berlin. She is represented by the Sexauer Gallery.